~~ The Lebanese National Team 2013 ~~

[francesces]

khalid80 , this is the Final and official Roster for Lebanese NT at the WABA ? ( or they might have some change ) thx

[471]

I agree with you Khaled that this roster is by far better than the lineup we had the last 2 years.
But we can't have only 2 players on the position 1 in our national team come on !!! If Rony doesn't fit GS system ( no system in this case :P ) then what about Joey Accaoui, Amir Saoud, Ali Barada, Mohammad Ibrahim !!! Aren't these players better than Hussein El Khatib ??!!!
For me he should eliminate Hussein El Khatib, Mazen Mneimneh and Nadim Hawi from this squad and replace them by Mohammad Ibrahim, Elie Rustom and Charles Tabet ( taking into consideration the list of injured players )
That's a shame always introducing Champville non competent players to the squad !!!Now Mohammad Ibrahim is no more a good player ??!!! Or Hussein is better than Elie Rustom ??!!! Come on !!!!!!! Or Nadim Hawi with his right hand plays only and usage of half the perimeter on the court better than all of the centers and power forwards in town ??!!! walaw !!!!

This roster isn't the best for sure but compared to previous NT's in which Sarkis selected his rosters I think this roster is good for a tournament like the WABA excpet for the inclusion of Nadim Hawi... If this was the roster for the Asian Championship then for sure I would be against it 100%...
Matt Freije to be honest hasn't been playing consistent in the Lebanese league this season... He's no longer the same Matt we used to know back in 2009 so i'm not disappointed that he wasn't selected.

Philip Tabet and Bassel Bawji are injured and apparently this is the main reason why they weren't selected... Elie Stephan is also injured... I have no idea why Charles Tabet wasn't called instead of Nadim though....
I don't believe we will ever see Rony on a team coached by Sarkis.

[Khalid80]

khalid80 , this is the Final and official Roster for Lebanese NT at the WABA ? ( or they might have some change ) thx

If Julain isn't able to join the team then for sure there will be another player replacing him... Other than the that I think the roster should be final.

[Khalid80]

I agree with you Khaled that this roster is by far better than the lineup we had the last 2 years.
But we can't have only 2 players on the position 1 in our national team come on !!! If Rony doesn't fit GS system ( no system in this case :P ) then what about Joey Accaoui, Amir Saoud, Ali Barada, Mohammad Ibrahim !!! Aren't these players better than Hussein El Khatib ??!!!
For me he should eliminate Hussein El Khatib, Mazen Mneimneh and Nadim Hawi from this squad and replace them by Mohammad Ibrahim, Elie Rustom and Charles Tabet ( taking into consideration the list of injured players )
That's a shame always introducing Champville non competent players to the squad !!!Now Mohammad Ibrahim is no more a good player ??!!! Or Hussein is better than Elie Rustom ??!!! Come on !!!!!!! Or Nadim Hawi with his right hand plays only and usage of half the perimeter on the court better than all of the centers and power forwards in town ??!!! walaw !!!!

Sarkis simply chose the roster that he thinks is best for him and for what he envisions. It's the same story every time but at least this time Hussein El Khatib actually does deserves a chance to be on the NT as he has tremendously improved this season and he's been playing really well especially with his defense as so far he was the only one who could almost shut down Andre Emmett.
Also Mazen for sure deserves to be on the roster as well... He's having a rejuvenated season and is playing like young old Mazen who at one time was being hyped as being the next Fadi when he was in his early 20's before many serious injuries affected his level.
Hawi as I mentioned before for sure doesn't deserve to be on the roster.

[francesces]

why if julian isn't able to join , what might be the cause ?

[Khalid80]

why if julian isn't able to join , what might be the cause ?

His mom passed away and we haven't even asked him if he wants to play for the Lebanese NT... What if he doesn't want to play with the NT for now... We should be very understanding of his situation...

[francesces]

i understand

[Khalid80]

Great article by our good friend Dany Abboud about the Lebanese NT

Asian Championship blow could carry silver lining for Cedars

January 19, 2013 01:07 AM By Dany Abboud
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon may have been stripped of a golden chance to host the FIBAASIA Championship for the first time in the country’s history, but the national team may yet qualify – through this summer’s championship in Manila, and for the fourth time in a row – for next year’s World Championship in Spain.

The last two years haven’t been kind to the men’s national basketball team – the Cedars disappointingly failed to reach the semifinals of the 2011 Asian Championship for the first time in 10 years. Additionally, they finished an unacceptable seventh in the FIBA ASIA cup last September, following an unexpected loss to Qatar in the quarterfinals.

However, Lebanon will look to bounce back in 2013. The team has undergone a series of developments and changes, which will hopefully see the combination of old and fresh players power forward and lay the groundwork for the future.

Moreover, this year’s domestic league has been quite promising due to the level of competition shown.

The first event that awaits the Cedars isn’t far from now, as Lebanon are scheduled to take part in the WABA qualification tournament next month in Tehran from Feb. 7-11.

There are just two seats to the Asian Championship, which takes place from August 1-10, up for grabs, excluding Iran who have secured a spot already, having won last year’s FIBA ASIA Cup in Tokyo.

Lebanon have made their intentions clear by naming a strong squad in their quest to qualify for the fourth successive time to the World Championship. The lineup includes: Rodrigue Akl, Fadi el-Khatib, Ali Mahmoud, Hussein el-Khatib, Mazen Mneimneh, Jean Abdel-Nour, Ahmad Ibrahim, Julian Khazzouh, Roy Samaha, Ali Kanaan, Nadim Hawi and naturalized American Reyshawn Terry.

Lebanon haven’t boasted such a strong lineup since the 2010 World Championship in Turkey, where local fans put high hopes on the team regaining glory for the nation.

There was a fair amount of controversy, though, as Ghassan Sarkis surprisingly excluded Sagesse’s center Charles Tabet and his teammate Elie Rustom, and he ruled out some veterans such as Rony Fahed, Omar Turk and Ghaleb Reda.

The squad saw the inclusion of Byblos swingman Mneimneh, who has been missing from the international scene since the FIBA ASIA 2009 in Tianjin. Mneimneh has been impressive thus far in the domestic league, posting an average of 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

Sarkis, however, has put an end to the speculation surrounding starlet Ibrahim, who is regarded as the best talent in the country for some time, with the 20-year-old scorer finding his way back to the roster after missing out on the FIBA ASIA Cup last September in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, 208-cm Lebanese- Australian center Khazzouh will be central to Lebanon’s hopes to compete for the title in the upcoming FIBA ASIA championship.

Khazzouh was said to be eligible to represent Lebanon internationally, following a dispute over whether he had represented Australia before or not. But highly informed sources within the Lebanese basketball federation revealed that “a message was sent to the FIBA in that regard, and the answer was pretty positive.”

The national team will also feature a new naturalized player, as the decision this time was for Champville’s American forward Terry to replace compatriot Garnett Thompson. Terry has been impressing locally, averaging 20.1 point and 7.4 rebounds per game.

Khatib will once again be the man to inspire the Lebanese squad with his experience and talent, as he aims for a fourth successive appearance in the World Championship.

“When I was given the opportunity to manage this team, I looked to pump in new blood. In that respect I deemed this was the best squad available to take this tournament on. Although, even in the upcoming tournament [WABA] we will be experimenting with the roster until we get the best possible lineup for the bigger events,” said Sarkis.

“We had a few injuries to consider, as Elie Stephan and Bassel Bawji are not very healthy and it is not safe to take them now. But for the summer there might be a few changes.

Quizzed about the reasons behind ruling out Rustom and Tabet, he said: “Rustom is a very good player but he has not reached his best since coming back from injury, while we have many players in the position of Tabet, although I assure again that many things will be reconsidered for the later stages.”

Regarding the naturalization of Terry, Sarkis said: “Our first priority was [Loren] Woods but Riyadi refused, so the choice was between Amchit’s guard Andre Emmett and Terry, but the former asked for a pretty high salary so we had to go with Terry for now. But for Asia, we will have another new import which fulfills our needs.”

“We are still waiting to be sure on Khazzouh – if [he] will be able to play or not, we hope he will be with us because he will give us a great boost.”

Sarkis urged the governing body to secure enough funding should Lebanon qualify again for the World Championship. The head coach said that it is possible for his side to attain that goal, but that they would need proper preparations.

Sarkis only has a short amount of time to bring his team up to scratch. The Cedars will have less than a week to prepare for the WABA tournament, as the league is on a tight schedule.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Sports/Basketball/2013/Jan-19/202876-asian-championship-blow-could-carry-silver-lining-for-cedars.ashx#axzz2HviqKFRv

[francesces]

indeed khalid , great article but what's the most important is that if julian will be able to play or not , till now i'm a little scared !!!

[heart21]

indeed khalid , great article but what's the most important is that if julian will be able to play or not , till now i'm a little scared !!!

Don't worry,Julian Khazzouh will play with Lebanon because he is happy here and he said the day he signed with Sagesse that he is excited to meet Lebanese fans to help them qualify to olympics and the world cup so no need to be scared.

[Bernard]

well to be Honest Khalid and everyone... it is not the best squad we can get..... it is rather the best logic squad that Ghassan Sarkis managed to choose so far, with the exception of Nadim Hawi and Roy Smaha... roy is very good for the league but not for the NT... and NAdim... better to be 2nd division... he might be a Star in that level... but not in the 1st division and DEFINATELY NOT in the NT !! WALAW ! w zikkkkkkkkkkkkkk !!

[reamily]

Bassel Bawj is good palyer..happy that he is considered to the national team .. your VERY deep national team..the depth chart for your wing position is crazyy as it gets

[gazara]

1-Ali Mahmoud (180-PG)(Al Riyadi Beirut)
2-Rodrigue Akl (188-PG)(Sagesse Beirut)
3-Jean Abdel Nour (199-SF)(Al Riyadi Beirut)
4-Hussein El Khatib (192-SG)(Champville Club)
5-Fadi El Khatib (199-SF)(Champville Club)(TEAM CAPTAIN)
6-Ahmad Ibrahim (201-SF)(Al Riyadi Beirut)
7-Mazen Mneimneh (192-SG)(Byblos Club)
8-Roy Samaha (206-C)(Mouttahed)
9-Ali Kanaan (206-C)(Al Riyadi Beirut)
10-Nadim Hawi (205-C)(Champville Club)
11-Julian Kazzouh (211-C)(Sagesse Beirut)
12-Reyshawn Terry (203-SF/PF)(USA)(NATURALIZED PLAYER)

Very Good roster ,even we could get a better one ! i Prefer to Replace Nadim Hawi by Charles Tabet (206-C)(Sagesse Player) or Bassel Bawji (204-PF) !!

We Will have a Huge DUO BTW Fadi And Ahmad !! 2 Huge Scorers with Terry Who also can handle the Team ! Very Good Team

[heart21]

Our current NT roster is not very good and it should be changed this summer so we are able to qualify to the WC for the fourth time.I know there are good names but some of them are not necessary.First of all the naturalized player should be stronger at a high level and the players that can helps us a lot that are not in are Elie Rustom,Matt Freije,Ali Haidar,Rony Fahed,Omar El Turk,,Charles Tabet and Daniel Faris.

[Khalid80]

Our current NT roster is not very good and it should be changed this summer so we are able to qualify to the WC for the fourth time.I know there are good names but some of them are not necessary.First of all the naturalized player should be stronger at a high level and the players that can helps us a lot that are not in are Elie Rustom,Matt Freije,Ali Haidar,Rony Fahed,Omar El Turk,,Charles Tabet and Daniel Faris.

From the names mentioned Matt Freije and Omar El Turk don't deserve a spot on the NT... They are not playing at a top level and I would rather have rounger players on the NT since both of these players are in their 30's... As for Daniel Faris let's see how he will be playing after recovering from his injury... I don't want to be pessimistic but I doubt Daniel will still be the same player we used to know after he went through 2 ACL surgeries which are amongst the worst type of injuries that a basketball player can suffer from and many players careers were affected by these injuries.